I led hunt for MH370 – new £56m search for missing plane is in most dangerous place on Earth & could be impossible

THE hunt for doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could take eight months to resume after it was dramatically suspended after just days.

The £56million mission, led by UK-based marine robotics company Ocean Infinity, had been sweeping a new seabed area in a last-ditch attempt to finally solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

National Geographic

A computer-generated image shows what the MH370’s final moments might look like after it’s believed to have plummeted into the Southern Indian Ocean in 2014[/caption]

Ocean Infinity

Ocean Infinity’s search vessel has been deployed to a new search zone in the southern Indian Ocean[/caption]

AFP

The A Royal Malaysian Air Force Navigator during a search and rescue operation to find the missing plane over the Strait of Malacca on March 14, 2014[/caption]

This image shows the vessel going back and forth over the search area – the red zone is what has been previously searchedx/BigOceanData

But just after a few days of search in the Southern Indian Ocean, conditions quickly deteriorated and a decision’s been made to wait for a safer weather window in the southern hemisphere summer.

Peter Waring, a former deputy operations manager on the original search, said the delay was unsurprising and necessary.

He told The Sun the search has been postponed until summer hits in the Southern hemisphere, meaning it will probably resume around November this year.

While disappointing, the postponement was “not unexpected,” he said.

The MH370 hunter said that fierce Southern Ocean storms and treacherous sea conditions mean crews are often forced to abandon search efforts during the brutal southern winter.

Waring explained: “The weather tends to get really quite bad in the Southern Indian Ocean during the southern winter.

“It becomes a little bit difficult for the ships to remain down there, a little bit dangerous.”

He explained that the area is “just about the worst place you can be” in the winter, with one vicious storm system after another rolling through, generating waves up to five metres high and battering vessels with relentless winds.

“You’re extremely exposed, and it’s about six days’ sailing to the nearest port, which is Fremantle. So, you’re out there, it’s terrible weather, and you’re a long way from home,” Waring added.

Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Despite extensive search operations, only scattered debris has ever been found.

A renewed push by Ocean Infinity this year, backed by the Malaysian government, has sparked fresh hope of locating the Boeing 777’s final resting place under the waves.

But Waring said the risks of pressing on far outweigh any potential reward.

Recovery operations using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) – the only viable method for probing the deep, rugged seabed – become “almost impossible” when heavy seas make it too dangerous to winch equipment back on deck.

“Any kind of evolution, as we call it in the maritime world, of that kind is really, really dangerous,” he said.

Waring added that trying to retrieve gear in foul weather could mean losing crucial data – or the very equipment that might’ve finally located the wreck.

The MH370 expert also pointed out that even during the original government-led search from 2014 to 2017, winter operations often ground to a halt.

Some captains refused to return to sea due to the unbearable conditions.

“From the perspective of crew comfort and crew safety, it makes a lot of sense not to be there in the southern winter,” Waring said.

It’s not just the weather that poses problems.

The seabed in the search zone is incredibly complex – dynamic, mountainous and deep – demanding pinpoint precision and advanced robotics to scan it properly.

Waring warned that if conditions suddenly turn during a 3-day AUV mission, recovery could become impossible.

Reuters

A Boeing 777 flaperon cut down to match the one from flight MH370 found on Reunion island off the coast of Africa in 2015, is lowered into water[/caption]

AFP

A trailing edge section of a Boeing 777 outboard flap (L), originating from the Malaysian Airlines aircraft registered 9M-MRO (MH370), according to an ATSB report[/caption]

Getty

Malaysian Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke (C) looks at the wing flap f Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370[/caption]

Despite public frustration, Waring rejected conspiracy theories that officials or search companies are hiding information.

He also acknowledged that speculation and misinformation continue to swirl, fuelled in part by confusion over the new search zone – and a lack of public detail about the science behind it.

Greater openness now, he believes, could help temper expectations and rebuild trust in the mission.

“I’d like to see the research and science behind this new search released,” he said.

“That would stop some of the confusion and show people that experts are making these decisions, not online conspiracy theorists.”

As for Ocean Infinity, Waring said they remain the best hope of solving the MH370 mystery.

While not flashy or overly public, the company is at the top of its game – and proved it in 2018, when it covered more than 100,000 square kilometres of ocean floor, far beyond its initial 25,000-square-kilometre target.

“If any organisation on Earth is going to find MH370, it’s almost certainly going to be Ocean Infinity.”

Confidence, he said, should remain high – especially if the company shows the same determination to go beyond contract boundaries once the search resumes.

Waring is hopeful the wreckage will eventually be found – especially if the team is willing to push beyond its initial scope. 

“Much will depend on whether they just stick to the 15,000 square kilometres, or whether they expand the search out,” he said.

“The initial search Ocean Infinity undertook in 2018 started as just a 25,000 square kilometre box, and they ended up doing over 100,000.”

“If they do that again… and head south to some of the other identified hotspots… then we’ll probably find the aircraft.”